I am an avid listener or reader of anything published by Brene Brown. During my daily walk with Bucky, I was listening to the final instalment in her Unlocking Us podcast where she was reflecting on their Living Beyond Human Scale*’ series with her sister, Barrett.
[*If you’ve not listened to it I would 100% recommend giving it a go especially if you are interested in the progression of AI.]
There was a great statement in there were she described social media as communication, not connection.
So true.
Although I have 600 ‘friends’ on Facebook,1316 ‘followers’ on Instagram and 1370 ‘connections’ on LinkedIn,
You know the type of friends – the one’s who’ll pick up the phone at 2am when there is an emergency.
And most of those friends have come through face-to-face networking.
Yes, I have some amazing friends (that aren’t from networking) but most don’t live locally so I can’t reach out and touch them on a regular basis.
Bonding over being a small business owner in our local community has been a game changer personally for me as I started my own business out of lockdown in 2021.
I started with online networking and thought, “yes this is awesome” but the real magic and the real connections came when we got together for the first-time face to face in November 2021.
So, I wanted to use this week’s blog to list out the benefits I personally get from networking. I’d love to know which ones resonate with you, or if I’ve missed any you would add.
The benefits I get from networking:
1. A friendship circle that I get to got out socially with. We’ve been axe throwing, darts, bowling, curry night with dancing, karting, and much more.
2. A set of brains I get to pick when I have a new idea I want to work through.
3. A place to go every week where I’ll see friendly faces, which gets me out of the posh shed, and stops the loneliness of business creeping in.
4. Accountability to my fellow networkers – coming from big business I love structure & data.
5. Sharing my business knowledge and helping my connections build and grow their businesses.
6. Having trusted businesses for my Interior Design projects which make me look great, and my clients a great home.
7. Shoot the breeze on business – it’s very different being an employee to running your own business and Mr L (love him dearly) doesn’t always want to talk work.
8. A place to provide support and get support when at the top or bottom of the rollercoaster of being in business.
9. A place to be recognised for the contribution I make.
10. A place to celebrate business successes and cheer each other on.
I’ve not mentioned the financial impact in my list but for me it’s huge. Over 80% of the business I generate for my interior Design business comes from networking, and 100% of the clients I support with mentoring and accountability. The only part of my business you’ll really see me promoting is how I teach business owners to network for success.
The biggest challenge I hear from businesses that reach out to me is about generating leads from their business.
99.9% of the time it’s because they aren’t visible.
Networking is all about visibility.
Sharing who you are, who you help, and what makes you unique.
If you are at the beginning of your networking journey, or maybe you’ve lost your mojo, I’d love to have a chance to tell you how I can help. Drop a comment below or send me a message and let’s chat about how I can help you network for success.
I’ve also got some free resources which you can check out here.
Find out What’s Your Networking Personality type in my quiz.
Grab my download – Perfecting Your Pitch for Networking – The 6 Essential Elements
Grab my download – 9 Actions to take before attending a networking meeting
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